Edited by: Waning_Crescents

No lights brightened up the place and only the smell of vomit and blood lingered in the air. In the middle of this dark room stood a cage; trapped within, a twelve-year-old child with messy white hair. Leather cuffs with chains bound his thin hands and feet and a thick leather collar had been put around his neck. His clothes were tattered and stained with blood, old and new, yet the child didn’t make any sound. He was only curled up into a ball, his eyes lifeless.

The door opened. Light from outside illuminated the room somewhat and a youth of eighteen years with silver hair walked in. He moved to the cage and crouched down, gazing at the young boy inside. “Hey, little brother. I have good news, mom and dad died.” The tone of his voice showed neither anger nor grief, but rather seemed cheerful.

The little boy moved for the first time at that and crawled slowly forward, his chains screeching on the cold cement floor. “Really, Axis?”

The young man in front of him nodded with a smile.

The child’s lifeless eyes seemed to come to life again, tears of relief shimmered in his pupils and his chapped lips curved slightly upward into a smile for the first time in years.

“Now, you are all mine.” Axis’ smile changed into a devilish grin. “I won’t be as lenient with you as dad was, though.”

The little boy’s smile disappeared, and his eyes changed into a shock ridden expression. “W-what?”

“When I am done with you, you will obey me like the puppet that you are.” He got up and laughed heartily as he left the room, leaving the child behind in the darkness.

“Please, let me out. Axis, please!!!” Bitter pleads and cries echoed from within.

***

Before Cal even had realized it, he turned and ran away; it was as if his limbs moved on their own to just flee from this person. His mind was in a state of shock and terror, not able to comprehend all the events that unfolded in mere minutes. First, Sigal had acted out and then Axis appeared out of nowhere. This was too much to handle at once.

With no destination in mind, he just kept running —unable to think clearly, unable to form a plan, he just moved on pure instinct. He felt as if he was trapped in a nightmare and needed to wake up to escape from it, just that this wasn’t a dream at all, it was the cruel reality that dropped the hammer mercilessly down on him.

After a while, he slowed down and panted. Usually, his stamina was better than that, but under these circumstances everything failed him. He glanced around and found himself at a construction site. Piles of dirt, cranes, work platforms and everything else the workers needed were scattered around this area, just no workers could be seen. Dusk almost settled in after all, and they most likely already packed their belongings together and left, or the construction was put on hold for whatever reason.

Unclear of the circumstances, Cal walked deeper inside, ignoring any markings that should keep civilians out. He hid behind a pile of planks, which were stacked-up, ready for the crane to grab. He slumped down into a sitting position; his whole body trembled and sweat rolled down from his forehead, while he also gasped for breath.

Why is he here? He clenched his chest and gritted his teeth. How did he even find me? This can’t be happening.

The sound of a ‘thud’ close by pulled him out of his thoughts and he jerked but let out a breath of relief as his gaze fell on the phone beside him which slid out of his pocket; he picked it up and stared at it. He contemplated for a moment what to do, but in the end, he put the phone back into his pocket.

After what Sigal said to him just a few minutes ago, there was a chance not only he suspected him, but everyone else did as well, so who should he call? Even if circumstances were different, he wouldn’t want to involve anyone in his mess in the first place, therefore, no matter what, he was on his own here.

Cal slid his right hand beneath his white jacket to seize his gun, but he only reached into empty space. He forgot his equipment!

“Dammit.” He cursed under his breath.

He just went after Sigal because he saw him leaving the building and got worried. The thought of bringing his gun along didn’t even cross his mind at that time. However, as he lifted his pants, a holster with a knife in it was fixed to his right calf —something he used since before he even joined the Conciliators and almost became second nature to carry it around.

“Do you really think you can hide from me?” Axis’s voice echoed through the area. “You know where you belong, don’t you?” A chuckle followed.

Cal grabbed the knife into a tight grip while he tried to determine from which direction the voice came from as something heavy hitting the ground resounded from not too far away. Cal bared his teeth and peeked around the corner but couldn’t spot anyone.

He withdrew and stared at his hands which shivered uncontrollably. Fuck! He took a deep breath to calm down, but to no avail. That man instilled a kind of fear in him that put him in an almost paralyzed state, and he couldn’t break free from it.

The sun was setting, but slight shadows still reflected on the ground from all the materials lying around. Cal sat still and scanned the area to see any changes in those shadows while he also paid attention to any footsteps or any other noises.

His heart beat fast, almost so fast that he was afraid anyone nearby could hear it. His breathing quickened and more beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, running down his temples. He swallowed his own saliva while he tightened the grip around his knife with his right hand as if holding onto his only lifeline.

As Cal shifted his gaze in front of him, a shadow in the shape of a person reflected on the ground. His eyes widened and in the blink of an eye he jumped away from the pile of planks, right as the person descended on the spot he just rested at.

The person was taller than him and had a quite bulky, yet muscular physique. He wore a black mask with a green snake on it which covered their whole face. Cal gritted his teeth and held his knife horizontally in front of him, observing the person’s every move.

He brought more people?

Shaking Axis off already proved to be problematic, but also having to deal with subordinates or comrades of his meant even more trouble, especially because Cal couldn’t be certain how many people Axis brought along just to catch him.

The person in front him neither spoke, nor moved, just stared through the mask at him. Cal took a step back without taking his eyes off the stranger, while he tried to find a way out of this.

However, he didn’t have much time to think because in the next second, the stranger took a step forward and dashed at him, but Cal dodged the attempt. Even though his mental state and body were in unfavorable condition, the adrenaline and his willpower kept him going.

The person, who still didn’t say a word, rushed at him again without any weapons in hand, just with his bare strength. Cal leaped back, avoiding a hit again and even ducked at the follow-up tornado kick. Right after, he jumped back up and to the side, while he slashed at his opponent.

Blood dripped down from the other’s arm, which he used to block Cal’s attack. However, he neither flinched, nor made any sound.

Cal took this chance and darted away but stopped in his tracks as two more figures with masks appeared, one from the front and one to his left. The one he injured also caught up already and blocked the way behind him, unexpectedly fast on his feet for a man with his build.

A clapping sound echoed from his right and Cal turned his head around where his gaze fell upon Axis, who sauntered towards the circle Cal was trapped in, surrounded by his men. “Not bad, not bad. You have learned some new tricks, haven’t you?”

Cal didn’t reply, but just scanned his surroundings to find any opening to get out of this situation.

“Forget it, you have no means to escape. Come home to where you belong, in your cage.” Axis grinned. “I have looked for so long and finally I found you. I missed you so much, my little brother.”

“Yeah, right. I am not becoming your guinea pig again. Never again!”

“Oh?” Axis let out amused. “I don’t think you have any say in this.”

“You wanna bet?”

Cal lifted his knife, his hand trembled as he did so and pointed it towards his own throat. He had nothing to lose, he basically lost everything in mere minutes. He had no one to worry about either, no one to consider…not anymore anyway. The only thing he had to worry about was to fall into this man’s hands again and live the rest of his life in despair, terror, and pain. Before he would live like that, he’d rather die here and now.

“Let me leave, or I will kill myself. I bet that’s not what you want, right?”

“You don’t have the guts.” Axis looked at him, unimpressed. “Look at your shivering hands.” He laughed out loud.

Cal gritted his teeth as the tip of the knife made contact with his skin. “Let me leave.”

“Do it.” Axis lips curved up, his teeth showing. “I dare you.”

Cal stared silent at the other, sweat dripping down from his chin. Axis wouldn’t let him leave no matter what, this only left him with one choice. He clutched the knife tight with his right hand, ready to finish this as his mind suddenly drifted to one person. The one person he cared so much about, the only person who ever showed kindness towards him, and the one person he wanted to see the most right now.

I’m sorry, Sigal, and thank you.

Cal’s eyes shot wide open and right as he was about to thrust the knife deeper in, his hand got caught.

Shock crossed Cal’s face as he stared at the man he injured, but before he could even react, the man twisted his hand around —so that he lost his weapon— and secured his arm behind his back. Then he pushed Cal down to the ground and pressed down on his head with his other hand, fixing Cal in place.

“What a nice show.” Axis smiled amused. “You really were going through with it, weren’t you?”

“Go to hell.”

***

“The fuck am I doing?” Sigal cursed under his breath, wandering around aimlessly muddle-headed while the image of Cal’s expression and tone of his voice was stuck in his head. His heart pounded fast, it ached. He couldn't believe what he just did, how he reacted towards him. There was not even any proof that he had any connections, any relations to the case, yet what Asher said just pushed him as far as accusing him like that.

The more he thought about it, recounted everything, the less it made sense what Asher said. Cal never instigated anything, he more was a victim to everything that happened, starting from the Lester case. Everything that followed was a means from the criminals to get to him by using Cal.

What if that was their goal? Sigal came to a halt. To stir up suspicion. What if…? Sigal’s eyes widened as it struck him.

“Fuck!” He turned around, rushing to where he left Cal.

“Good evening, Mr. investigator.”

Sigal stopped in his tracks at that, his gaze shifting to his right, where a man with short brown hair and green eyes stood with his back resting against a wall. Sigal’s eyebrows drew together as he recognized him, the man who handed him the note the other day in Shuri Town. “It’s you.”

“That’s right.” The man grinned slightly.

Without any hesitation, Sigal grabbed his gun from beneath his coat and pointed it at the other. “What do you want?”

“I’m here to pick you up.”

“What are you talking about?” Sigal narrowed his eyes.

“Let me show you,” the man said, took a glance at his phone, which he held in his left hand the whole time, and turned the display into Sigal’s direction.

Sigal took a few steps forward while his gun still aimed at the other, taking a closer look at the screen. His expression darkened as he stared at a picture of Cal being restrained and pinned to the ground.

“If you care about his life, you will come with me. If you don’t, then you can shoot me here and now.”

Sigal gritted his teeth but lowered his gun.